Saturday, August 23, 2003

MORE EVIDENCE THAT MARK STEYN IS THE MASTER OF ALL COLUMNISTS



Steyn, as usual, crushes his puny liberal opponents by pointing out the absurdities and hypocracies of the Left (via the Telegraph):
Certainly, Iraq has its problems. Jacques Chirac, en vacances just up the road from me in North Hatley, Quebec, took time out of his three-week holiday to issue a statement on events in Baghdad, where 20 people died on Tuesday. But he didn't bother to interrupt his vacation to issue a statement on events in France, where so many people have died, the funeral homes are standing room only and they're having to store bodies in the freezers at the fruit and veg markets.
WHACK!! But wait! There's more!
There's an old, cynical formula for the weight accorded different disasters on American TV news. It runs something like: one dead American = 10 dead Israelis = 100 dead Russians = 1,000 dead Bangladeshis. But 10,000 French can die, and even the French don't seem to care � or not too much, and not with any great urgency.
WHAM!! And finally...
In Paris this spring, a government official explained to me how Europeans had created a more civilised society than America - socialised healthcare, shorter work weeks, more holidays. We've just seen where that leads: gran'ma turned away from the hospital to die in an airless apartment because junior's sur la plage. M Chirac's somewhat tetchy suggestion that his people should rethink their attitude to the elderly was well taken. But Big Government inevitably diminishes its citizens' capacity to take responsibility, to the point where even your dead mum is just one more inconvenience the state should do something about.
You must read Steyn right now.



Thursday, August 21, 2003

A Whiney Liberal Upset with Good Economic News MORE BAD NEWS FOR THE BUSH-HATERS



Via "Reuters":
Manufacturing in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region surged well beyond Wall Street expectations in August and unemployment lines were shorter last week, lending renewed vitality to hopes for stronger growth ahead.



In a sign that the nation's long-slumping factories may be finally gearing up for a sustained recovery, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its monthly industrial gauge leapt to 22.1 in August from 8.3 in July. The jump far exceeded economists' expectations of a rise to 9.9.
Geez, what a bummer.



Wednesday, August 20, 2003

ON PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY



I discovered this essay via Instapundit. The author, Bill Whittle, addresses the requirement of personal responsibility in a free society.



Highly recommended.



DO THEY REALLY CAIR?



Rachel Neuwirth at ChronWatch discovers that the the Director of Communications at the Coucil of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) won't give answers to fundamental questions about terrorism (via FrontPageMagazine.com)
In late July, I contacted Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman and director of communication at the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). When he returned my call, he presented his point of view about the Arab-Israeli conflict and militant Islam. When I reminded him about CAIR's record of openly supporting Hamas, Hizbullah, and other organizations deemed by the government to be terrorists, he replied by telling me that "CAIR does not support these groups publicly."



But Hooper must have realized that he had said too much: he lost his composure and I suddenly found myself listening to a dial tone!
Please check out the entire story -- it's pretty disturbing.